photograph by BRIAN WOODCOCK Dec. 2010 | Jan. 2011 GARDENANDGUN.COM 43

Made in the

South From modern rocking

chairs to strawberry jam,

the winners of our first con-

test for craftsmen exemplify

the South’s entrepreneurial

spirit and a tradition of

goods made rightby

DONOVAN WEBSTER & HASKELL HARRIS

SouthernStyle I N T R O D U C I N G T H E M A D E I N T H E S O U T H A W A R D S

Made in the South

AWA RDS

Thing of Beauty Jay Lichty’s handmade guitars and ukuleles won this year’s Made in the South Awards.

Knife

, oar

s: Br

ian

Woo

dcoc

k

Dec. 2010 | Jan. 2011 GARDENANDGUN.COM 49

Product ............. FIBERGLASS AND TEAK BOATS Made in ........................................PENSACOLA, FL

Classic teak detailing and a graceful hull may disguise the versatile, hardworking machine beneath, but a Caribiana Sea Skiff is just as equipped for hard-core fishing in the shallows as it is for taking in a sunset with the grandkids. “I grew up in the Delta riding around in a duck boat,” says company owner Curt Morse. “That’s what this boat is. It is a boat that doesn’t require a huge skill set, that anyone can get on and go anywhere.” The small-batch company has made it through Hurricane Katrina, relocation to Florida, and the more recent disaster in the Gulf without compromising quality, and there’s little doubt that its boats will go the distance, too.

S P O R T I N G The Runners-Up

Product .................... WOODEN CANOE PADDLESMade in ............................ CEDAR MOUNTAIN, NC

Fritz Orr III grew up surrounded by one of the best paddling cultures in the South, on the grounds of western North Carolina’s Camp Merrie-Woode, so it’s little surprise that he went on to earn four national whitewater canoe championship titles. Along the way, Orr occasionally built boats and paddles to finance his career, but three years ago he returned to the boat shop near his childhood home to build gorgeous, vintage-style paddles from all manner of hard- and softwoods. He makes heirloom-quality designs for slow water and mounting over the mantel, too.

Fritz Orr Canoe

Product ...........................HAND-FORGED KNIVESMade in ........................................ NASHVILLE, AR

How’s this for dedication to your art? At his wedding in October, master bladesmith Jerry Fisk walked under a procession of crossed bowie knives held by friends and former apprentices in his shop. That level of dedication spans a thirty-year career and numerous titles, accolades, and high-profile clients. And Fisk is still hammering metal most days of the week, finishing hunting knives with mammoth-bone handles, dirks with intricate gold wire inlay, and even heritage sets of knives decorated with Damascus steel custom-engraved for three generations of one family. “My guess is that I’ll fall dead in my shop of old age trying to get out my last order,” he says. “This is what I do because it’s what I love.”

Fisk Knives

$280 – $480 864-230-4921

$23,900 – $70,000 caribiana.com

$1,100 – $36,000 fisk-knives.com

Caribiana

Sea Skiffs